TED Business

Computer skills aren't what's stopping people from breaking into the tech industry, says social entrepreneur Irma L. Olguin Jr. More often, the biggest hurdles are things like access to childcare, transportation and financial stability. In this visionary talk, Olguin Jr. introduces the work she's done to uplift and empower people in her community in Fresno, California -- and shows how it can be a model to elevate "underdog" communities across the world. After the talk, Corey speaks with Irma about her career, how she got started, and what she's doing next.

As chairman of the world's largest maritime shipping company, Jim Hagemann Snabe thinks a lot about how goods get where they need to go and the impact their journey has on the planet. Leading the effort to decarbonize shipping by 2050, he shares a plan to convert green electricity into green liquid fuel to power vessels in a process called "power-to-X" -- and urges global leaders to join the voyage towards an innovative, sustainable and fast-approaching future. After the talk, Corey talks about how we can accomplish enormous, seemingly impossible goals, by breaking them down and making them manageable.

The financial sector often talks of decarbonizing investment portfolios as a way to fight climate change. But portfolios can be "cleaned" without having any real impact on the problem, says investment expert Nili Gilbert. Bringing science to finance, she unpacks how investors can actually help decarbonize the world and ensure the climate transition is just, global and interconnected. After the talk, Corey discusses how many businesses are boasting climate-beneficial practices, and how you can vet their impact as a consumer.

Did you know that in the US the average white family has ten times as much wealth as a black family? Ten times. But while we wait for government policies to shrink that gap, we all decide where our money goes. So how can we collectively chip away at that gap, now? In this episode, we find out. First, through a talk by BCG consultant Kedra Newsom Reeves that follows her family through generations to understand how policy helped build this gap—and what financial institutions can do now to shrink it. Then, Modupe talks with founder Shani Dowell, the first black woman in Tennessee to raise a million dollars in VC funding, about the creative techniques that anybody can use to start redistributing wealth in America. We'll be back from break next week, but meanwhile we hope you enjoy this favorite from the TED Business archive.

When an organization is battered by critics, how does it usually respond? “Deny and push back, put out some sort of lame statement,” says Bob Langert, “and no progress is made at all.” But based on 25 years leading sustainability and corporate responsibility at McDonald’s, Bob proposes another way: To work with critics. In this talk, he shares stories that take us from the Amazon to slaughterhouses, from tree huggers to corporate suits, all in the search for common ground with his greatest detractors. While we're taking a break, we hope you enjoy this favorite from the TED Business archive.

Confidence. We talk about it all the time. We know it matters. And still, educator and activist Brittany Packnett thinks we underestimate it. "Confidence,” she says, “is the necessary spark before everything that follows.” In this talk, Brittany identifies the three basic elements of this elusive force, which can be especially valuable for people whose role models don’t look like them. After the talk, Modupe shares one more technique that has propelled her year after year at work, and explores the power of finding your "superpower" at work. And, Spiderman makes a brief appearance. While we're taking a break, we hope you enjoy this favorite from the TED Business archive—maybe it'll even help you find the confidence to pursue your most bold resolutions this year.

You know you need a mentor to advance your career, but have you ever considered who your sponsor is? Carla Harris, vice chairman at Morgan Stanley, explains the crucial importance of identifying a person who will speak on your behalf in the top-level, closed-door meetings you're not invited to (yet). Learn why your pool of potential sponsors is bigger than you might think—and how to think carefully about how to present yourself to them. We're taking a break from the holidays, and hope you enjoy this TED Business archive talk as you plan for the year ahead and think about who will help you get the most out of 2022.

The end of another year is upon us, so it's time to take stock of where we've been and look ahead at where business is going. Today, Modupe talks to Harvard Business School professors and hosts of the TED Audio Collective podcast “After Hours” Youngme Moon, Mihir Desai, and Felix Oberholzer-Gee to reflect on this year’s learning opportunities and the conversations they are keeping an eye on for 2022. The trio also talk about how they got into the habit of making end of year predictions, what they’ve been wrong (or surprisingly right) about, and what and what our obsession with predicting the future says about us. Check out their full 2022 predictions on “After Hours” wherever you’re listening to this.

Business in Africa is booming -- but international companies are missing out, says emerging markets expert Nomava Zanazo. Rushing in without knowing their customers, businesses underestimate Africans and make costly assumptions about their diversity, preferences and buying power. Sharing the basics about what companies need to know to succeed on the continent, Zanazo debunks four myths and misunderstandings about Africa and its citizens -- and invites businesses from overseas to share in its wealth ... once they've done their research. After the talk, Modupe talks with Ndidi Nwuneli, the co-founder of Aace Foods, a producer and distributor of West African food products. Aace Foods is a great example of a company that is following Zanazo's advice for how American companies can do business well with African consumers.

Do you ever order clothes online in different sizes and colors, just to try them on and then send back what doesn't work? Aparna Mehta used to do this all time, until she one day asked herself: Where do all these returned clothes go? In an eye-opening talk, she reveals the unseen world of "free" online returns -- which, instead of ending up back on the shelf, are sent to landfills by the billions of pounds each year -- and shares a plan to help put an end to this growing environmental catastrophe. After the talk, Modupe talks about businesses that are tackling resale and more sustainable shopping practices.

Government deficits have gotten a bad rap, says economist Stephanie Kelton. In this groundbreaking talk, she makes the case to stop looking at government spending as a path towards frightening piles of debt, but rather as a financial contribution to the things that matter -- like health care, education, infrastructure and beyond. After the talk, Modupe talks about the scarcity mindset and how they can impede bold action.

The longtime PepsiCo CEO is one of the world’s most powerful women and Time’s 100 most influential people. In the first of two rich conversations, she explains why she wrote more than 400 letters about her direct reports… to their parents. Indra and Adam discuss what she’s learned about leadership, finding and being a mentor, championing ideas from below, and making big career decisions. They also explore some of the big questions around the future of work—from embracing flexibility to creating equitable arrangements for women to making family a real priority. This is an episode of WorkLife with Adam Grant, another podcast from the TED Audio Collective. You can find it, as well as the part 2 to this conversation, wherever you're listening to this.

Often it feels like the only thing we can agree on is that we can't agree on anything. World debate champion Julia Dhar offers three techniques to reshape the way we talk to each other so we can take our disagreements somewhere fruitful — over family dinners, during work meetings, and in our national conversations. Plus host Modupe Akinola explains why better arguments might start not with arguments at all, but with better questions. We hope you enjoy this episode from the TED Business archive, and find it helpful in any difficult conversations you have to navigate over the holiday season.

Do you sometimes have your most creative ideas while folding laundry, washing dishes or doing nothing in particular? It's because when your body goes on autopilot, your brain gets busy forming new neural connections that connect ideas and solve problems. Learn to love being bored as Manoush Zomorodi explains the connection between spacing out and creativity. Manoush is the host of NPR's TED Radio Hour and ZigZag, a podcast from the TED Audio Collective. After the talk, Modupe gives suggestions for inspiring more boredom in your daily life.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has gotten more than his fair share of attention from his acting career. But as social media exploded over the past decade, he got addicted like the rest of us -- trying to gain followers and likes only to be left feeling inadequate and less creative. In a refreshingly honest talk, he explores how the attention-driven model of big tech companies impacts our creativity -- and shares a more powerful feeling than getting attention: paying attention. After the talk, Modupe talks about how to find flow when you're surrounded by distractions.